How MOTHER GANGA -Ganges came on earth

King Sagara performed a ritual known as ashvamedha, where a horse was left to wander for one year. However, Indra stole the horse to prevent the ritual from being successful. Learning that the horse had disappeared, King Sagara sent his sixty thousand sons to look for it. They eventually found the horse at the ashrama of Sage Kapila, in the netherworld. Thinking that Sage Kapila had stolen the horse, the sons interrupted him while he was in a deep meditation. This infuriated Kapila, and with his ascetic's gaze, he burned all the sixty thousand sons to ashes.

King Sagara sent his grandson, Anshuman, to ask the sage Kapila what could be done to bring deliverance to their souls. Sage Kapila advised that only the water of Ganga, which flowed from Svarga, could liberate them. Bhagiratha, Anshuman's grandson, undertook severe ascetic practices, and won the favour of Brahma and Shiva. Brahma allowed Ganga to descend on earth, while Shiva broke Ganga's fall in his jata (dreadlocks), so that her force would not shatter the earth. When Ganga descended, Bhagiratha led her to the sea. From there, the river reached the netherworld, and liberated the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara.